Trends in technology are progressing towards smaller scales for systems in a variety of applications. Fluidic systems can be integrated within restrictive form factors imposed by the system to manipulate the transport of fluid. For example, flow-modulating components can be arranged for functions such as reactant delivery, heat transfer, and dosing of fluids.
Electronic components, such as personal electronic devices, are trending to become smaller in size. As electronic components are designed in smaller in size and incorporate sophisticated and complex technology, the demands on the power supply become greater. For instance, the power supply may need to occupy less volume or a smaller footprint to accommodate the addition of the technology to the device. The additional technology may also require that the power supply last for longer periods of time. In addition, portable electronic device may need to have energy storage maintained while the power supply shrinks.
An example of a power supply for the electronic components is a fuel cell system. In order to make a smaller fuel cell system, many individual components of the system, such as a fluid delivery component can be made smaller, but need to meet the technical requirements of the fuel cell system. For instance, the fluid delivery component may need to maintain a certain pressure, without occupying an overall significant volume of the fuel cell system, and without interfering with the assembly of the fuel cell system. Furthermore, the functionality of the fuel cell system must not be compromised.